OK guys. I've got an alloy frame which I want to strip and polish. I used to polish a lot of alloy components when I was in to restoring Old School BMX bikes but they were just for show and never ridden. This bike gets ridden in crappy conditions so I'm worried about corrosion etc.

I don't want to send the frame off to be anodised and I'm not mad keen on having the frame clear coated as the alloy won't be keyed and I think the lacqueur will chip off easily (then there's the dreaded orange peel 🙄 )

How do you guys with raw alloy frames look after them. Are there any products out there that can help seal the polished surface and guard against corrosion?

Some spiders etc. that I polished a while back. I'm going for the same BLING factor on this frame – forks are not an issue as they're carbon 8) Actually, I've always wanted to polish some magnesium forks as it buffs up really well but it tarnishes just as quickly so probably not worth doing…

I just polished an Ahead stem today in case I want to use it on this build. Will take pics of that tomorrow…

Belgom Alu is popular but I'm not that big of a fan, I refurbish and polish a fair few split rims and I think the best thing you can use is a good quality automotive paint sealant. I use Chemical Guys Jetseal which isn't cheap but it buys me about 2 weeks in bad weather before any water marks start appearing, and as a bonus any dirt will just hose off.

Here's some wheels that won me best of class a few years ago…

Although after saying that I'm thinking about using some of this on the wheels I'm building at the moment, although I'm a bit dubious, I bet it ends up chipping and then you might as well rip the lot off….

Lovely finish on those bits btw, what are you using for the final stage? I usually use a loose G with with blue.

you could try clear powder coating. much tougher than lacquering

Most of the stuff I used to restore was used (rough) and had to be de-anodised with caustic soda (yum, yum) then prepped with various grades of wet and dry. Then the fun part can commence – the polishing. I used a medium polishing wheel with the brown compound (tripoli) and I normally use a lighter wheel with the green compound to finish stuff off. It always worked for me…

I sold up a while back and got out of that hobby as I prefer to ride my bikes rather than look at them. I still have a bling fetish so this is a perfect project and I actually get to use this bike for a change. 😉

I will look into clear powders but candy on top of chrome/alloy looks great so that could be a winner. 😛

wipe over with wd40 will keep it gleaming, water free and protected from grime. You could be brave and use duraglit or brasso (the stuff that is like wadding in a tin). This will deep clean but may polish up ya metal more than you wish, be careful it will make a massive difference to how ya bare metal looks.